Sanitary napkins generally include a top sheet which is worn next to the wearer. The top sheet is permeable to allow bodily liquids to pass through it. The liquids which pass through the top sheet are absorbed in an absorbent core which lies underneath the top sheet. In order to protect the clothes of the wearer, an impervious backing sheet is provided which prevents the passage of bodily fluids.
Many sanitary napkins have a generally planar shape. However, in order to better fit to the shape of the body of the wearer it has been proposed to provide a three-dimensional shape which includes a form of a hump so that a central portion is raised out of the plane of the napkin relative to the surrounding portion towards the wearer. The hump is intended to allow the sanitary napkin to conform more closely to the shape of the wearer and to provide enhanced absorption capacity in the wetting area. In particular, the sanitary napkin should continue to conform to the shape of the wearer even when the wearer adopts different positions or performs different activities. One example of such a hump-shaped sanitary napkin is taught in WO-A-95 27457. In accordance with the teachings of this document a sanitary napkin is provided with a lifting member for biassing a central core segment towards a position in which the central segment is raised relative to side segments.
Not all wearers however find the presence of a raised central segment to be comfortable. For certain types of activities, e.g. cycling, such a three dimensional shape may not be found comfortable. Also the external appearance of such a raised central segment may cause embarrassment to the user and hence not be acceptable to all wearers.